Modi asks IT professionals to give out more online information about Yoga

New Delhi: Asserting that the world was keen to know about Indian heritage, including yoga, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked IT professionals to undertake “online activity” giving more information on the ancient practice.”The world is keen to know more about India and our traditions and culture, our values. We should distribute our knowledge across the world. But we can do this only when we are proud of our heritage,” Modi said in his monthly “Mann Ki Baat” radio address.

He said there were many things which had been were bequeathed to Indians by their ancestors like yoga and family values.

“Why don’t we make the world aware of our family values?” he said, adding that in a similar manner, it was “our responsibility to give the world the knowledge of yoga”.

“I request all young people, especially IT professionals, to undertake some online yoga activity which would provide information about yoga and its related benefits,” he said.

Speaking about the success of the first International Yoga Day on June 21, Modi appreciated the armed forces for joining the event and their efforts to make the day a success.

“On June 21, when I saw glimpses of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon doing yoga at the UN headquarters, I felt very happy,” he said.

The prime minister said people suggested that he speak on monsoons, which has arrived in many parts of the country.

Pitching for rainwater harvesting, Modi said efforts should be made to conserve water. “This should be a mass movement.”

He gave the example of Mahatma Gandhi’s house in Porbandar in Gujarat, where there was a 200-year-old underground reservoir to store rainwater.

In the run-up to the Raksha Bandhan festival, he asked people to ensure that women get benefits of social security schemes launched by the government.

“In August, we have Raksha Bandhan, we can begin a mass movement to ensure that all women and sisters of our country get all security scheme benefits before Raksha Bandhan,” the prime minister said.

“Whether it is a woman working as a maid in our house, or in our fields or whether it is our own sisters, we can ensure that they avail the social security schemes.”

Rakshan Bandhan is an Indian festival which celebrates the brother-sister bond.

Modi gave the example of the ‘selfie with daughter’ contest undertaken by a village head in Haryana and asked others to take up similar initiatives which would help the government’s ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ campaign.

He asked people to post on social media images with their daughters along with the hashtag “#selfiewithdaughter”.

The prime minster also asked people to coin slogans in any language on this topic, the best out of which he would retweet. (IANS)

Dermatologists measured improvements in the appearance of the faces of a small group of middle-aged women after they did half an hour of daily face-toning exercises for eight weeks, followed by alternate-day exercises for another 12 weeks.

Facial exercises are healthier than surgeries. Pixabay

The results surprised lead author Alam, vice chair and professor of dermatology at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

“In fact, the results were stronger than I expected,” he said in a phone interview. “It’s really a win-win for patients.”

Participants included 27 women between 40 and 65, though only 16 completed the full course. It began with two 90-minute muscle-resistant facial exercise-training sessions led by co-author Gary Sikorski of Happy Face Yoga in Providence, Rhode Island.

Participants learned to perform cheek pushups and eye-bag removers, among other exercises. Then they practised at home.

Improvements noted

Dermatologists looking at unmarked before-and-after photos saw improvements in upper cheek and lower cheek fullness, and they estimated the average age of women who stuck with the program as significantly younger at the end than at the start.

Face yoga is a healthier substitute for surgical procedures. Pixabay

The average estimated age dropped almost three years, from nearly 51 years to 48 years.

Participants also rated themselves as more satisfied with the appearance of their faces at the study’s end, Alam and colleagues reported in JAMA Dermatology.

“Now there is some evidence that facial exercises may improve facial appearance and reduce some visible signs of ageing,” Alam said. “Assuming the findings are confirmed in a larger study, individuals now have a low-cost, non-toxic way of looking younger or augmenting other cosmetic or anti-ageing treatments they may be seeking.”

The exercises enlarge and strengthen facial muscles to firm and tone the face, giving it a younger appearance, he said.

But not all dermatologists are rushing to promote the videos or the exercises.

Dr John Chi, a plastic surgeon and professor at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, said the study raises more questions than it answers.

“The jury is still out on whether or not facial yoga is effective in reversing the signs of ageing,” he said in an email.

Chi, who was not involved with the study, said he would recommend facial yoga to patients who found it relaxing and enjoyable but not for the purpose of facial rejuvenation.

“While the premise of facial exercises to improve the facial appearance or reverse signs of ageing is an appealing one, there is little evidence to suggest that there is any benefit in this regard,” he said.

Chi said facial yoga had not been rigorously examined in peer-reviewed scientific studies. Asked whether procedures such as face-lifts, Botox and fillers had been rigorously examined in peer-reviewed studies, he replied: “Great question. Attempts to do so have been made in the scientific literature with variable levels of scientific rigour.”

Alam agrees that his study raises additional research questions, such as whether the exercises would work for men and how much time people need to commit to doing the exercises for them to be optimally effective. He would like to see a larger study. VOA